Cellphone Guilt

A week or so ago, I watched as my daughter set her cellphone to wake her up the next morning and decided to learn how to do that with my phone. Once again, I forgot how to get to "Tools" and had to find my little phone handbook (buried under a stack of Stuff To Do in my bedroom) to figure out how to do it. In the course of all this, I realized I had 17 messages waiting for me on the phone. When I finally figured out where I wrote down my password, I was able to listen to stuff starting from last January! Two from Aunt M.E. - forgive me!

My penance is:
5 Hail Marys (with my password on the end) every day.
Learn how to send text messages and send one to my son every week.

Electioneering - Up Close and Personal

Got up in the dark at 5 am today to post signs and station myself at the polling place for my precinct. I had volunteered to take the 6-9 am shift there to encourage people to vote in favor of calling a new constitutional convention in Illinois. (See my previous post.) Luckily, it is warm (70s) and sunny today - and I only had to run back down the block once for a bathroom break!

Despite the predictions of long lines to vote on Election Day, there was only a slow but steady trickle of voters in the morning. Most voters only nodded when I made my pitch, but a few told me they were definitely going to vote Yes. A few said, "No way," but that's no surprise since my precinct has a lot of teachers, police and fire fighters - all of whom were told by their unions to vote against it. They're afraid that a new Con-Con would be used to cut their pensions - not true! Only one guy wanted to talk about it - AFTER he voted. When he asked me why I was in favor of a new Con-Con, I began my talking points (I had done my reading!) and he wanted to debate them, but some of his neighbors came out and he got distracted. End of debate. At any rate, most people were nice even if they figured out ways to avoid walking by me so I couldn't hand them a voting card. I still called after them anyway.

The big surprise? There were NO other poll watchers or electioneers standing around with me within our legal space limits. Where were the Republicans and the Democrats?? They're always there at every other election! They must have decided Illinois was a done deal. I thought I would have to fight for my fair share of the lawn space for signs, and outshout the other guys when voters came by, but this was a cakewalk. Our cause is a longshot, but the great weather today and lack of "distractions" at the polling place have given us our best chance.

Politicking with United Power

One of the best things about my neighborhood church is the fact that it supports United Power for Action and Justice, a coalition of local churches/synagogues/mosques and community action groups. Two weeks ago, middle daughter and I went to a political rally, sponsored in part by UP, in support of a new constitutional convention in Illinois. UP hopes that a new Con-Con will provide a remedy to the stalemate that prevents so much needed legislation in the state capitol.

Other United Power events we've attended:
1. A scheduled political debate between the candidates for U.S. Senator from Illinois four years ago - our first up close look at Barack Obama (the other candidate didn't show up - later we heard he had dropped out of the race).

2. A meeting between members of local mosques and anyone else who wanted to meet them. It was great to pray together, talk one-to-one, and hear the Muslim leaders encouraging their members to "get out there and make yourself known" by joining school boards, running for local offices, etc. Not easy for them in the year or two after 9/11 when Muslims anywhere were vulnerable to hate crimes.

3. A meeting two years ago with the now embattled governor to ask for his support for state-funded health insurance for children in low-income families, among other things. My son jumped from his seat in the high school auditorium where we met on a Sunday afternoon and disappeared as soon as the last speaker started his closing remarks. When he turned up in the parking lot later on, he said he wanted to speak to the governor in person to tell him about the pressing need for state funding for public transportation in Chicago - and did so! How he got past security is unknown.

In addition to working for many excellent causes to benefit forgotten people, UP brings together a wonderful mix of people! It's always good to be part of it.

Family Relationships Formula

In the course of sending out invitations to local, but distant, relatives for a family birthday this month, I found myself trying to explain how some of us are related. "Second cousin, once removed," is usually beyond the comprehension of most of us.

Luckily, the reference librarian in me discovered a nifty website that explains it all. Try out What Is a First Cousin, Twice Removed? from Genealogy.com. They have a table that you can use to plug in yourself and the person to whom you are somehow related to see where you intersect with the exact degree of your kinship.

Little Poop

Now that I've read two of the Agatha Raisin mysteries by M.C. Beaton, I'm reminded of how much fun it is to read about nasty people. Vicarious pleasure, I'm sure. Agatha has been described as "Miss Marple, on a bad day."

When I started first grade, my family moved to a small house (large - to a 6-yr-old) in Bismarck, ND. My next youngest sister and I shared a room and a double bed, which allowed us to entertain ourselves in whispers after lights out with stories. Using the naughtiest word we knew, we named our very favorite story heroine, "Little Poop." She did all the things we wished we could get away with, but never could - calling the mean neighbor bad names, peeing in the alley so she wouldn't lose her turn in a game, etc. If the story got really good, our giggling got out of hand and one of our parents would start warning us to cut it out - or else. Sometimes we got the "or else," but those stories were great fun. It makes me smile to remember.

Cubs Lose Again - Life Goes On

Once again, the Cubbies have remained true to their tradition of leaving fans crying in their beer steins (or vats). #1 son won a lottery for an opportunity to buy playoff tickets and by the time he got the money together, was able to buy only 1 ticket for the Tuesday game. He could have sold it for a nice profit, but no, he had to use it himself to be fully immersed in the tragedy.

My husband grew up not far from Wrigley Field - one of the few remaining outdoor stadiums (stadia?) left in major league baseball, I think. Back in the day, he would gather with other penniless youngsters on Waveland Avenue hoping for a homerun ball to clear the fence. Catch the ball and you got in to see the rest of the game for free.

Since we are "northsiders," our entire family is part of Cubs fandom. One son-in-law, who was a left-handed pitcher for the U. of Illinois baseball team, had a condo a few years ago within a few blocks of Wrigley. It was always fun to visit there when the team was playing - you could hear the cheers for base hits from their front window.

In a perverse way, I'm sort of glad the Cubs failed again. We wouldn't know how to be true fans if our team really earned the championship. Back to loving the losers.

Hurricane Ike Devastates My Garden

The remnants of Hurricane Ike dumped 6.64 inches of rain - the all-time record here for a single calendar day - right on my lovely garden. On Sept. 14, the bean plants were still producing a quart bag of beans every 7-10 days and the tomatoes were in full production mode.

The pictures show the aftermath. Within 2 days of the downpour, the beans and their leaves were wilting despite ample sun. The tomatoes remained plump, but the leaves withered and the fruit stayed the same size. I can only guess that the plants drowned in the water-logged clay soil that couldn't drain it away soon enough.

This photo was taken yesterday (2 weeks later). Note that the hardy kale plants right next to the bean poles are still a healthy green! The first frost is still probably a few weeks away, but this garden is mostly history. I'll pull the rest of the beets and keep cutting Swiss chard and kale as long as we can. Free food!